SuzanneInKent

Jun 17 · Replied

Community post

Thank you Julie, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.

Jun 17 · Posted

Trying eggs at breakfast instead of toast and logging how I feel at 4pm. That's it. Not a diet. Just one change.

Jun 14 · Posted

Right, I'm going to write this out properly because I keep starting things and then abandoning them after four days and I want to have a record this time. I am 54, perimenopausal, and I have officially had it up to here with the internet telling me to eat less and move more as though that is some kind of revelation. I have been eating less and moving more, on and off, for approximately thirty years. What I have not been doing is paying attention to what actually happens in my body on a given day depending on what I ate at breakfast. So that is what I'm trying now. The thing I'm testing this week is just: does a proper protein breakfast make any difference to the 4pm thing. You know the 4pm thing. The wall. The point where I would genuinely eat the kitchen cupboard door if it had any calories in it and then I can't think straight and I'm snappy with the kids and I end up having a biscuit (or four) and then I'm not hungry for dinner but I eat it anyway because I made it and it was a budget week and I'm not wasting it. So. This week I am having eggs or Greek yogurt or leftover chicken or whatever I can find that has actual protein in it before I leave the house. Not a cereal bar. Not toast with a scrape of something. Real food that takes a few minutes. I'm writing down: - what I had for breakfast - whether I crashed at 4pm (scale of one to five, one being fine, five being feral) - how hungry I am at dinner - how I slept That's it. I'm not counting anything, I'm not cutting anything out, I'm not starting a new plan with a name. I just want to see whether there's a pattern over two weeks that I can actually look back at. I'm also going to mention the energy crashes to my GP when I go next month because I've never actually said it out loud in an appointment. I always end up talking about the hot flushes and the sleep and then the ten minutes is up and I've forgotten the other three things I wanted to say. If anyone else is doing something similar or has noticed a pattern with breakfast and afternoon energy I would genuinely love to hear it. Not looking for a programme, just curious what other people have noticed for themselves x

Jun 3 · Replied

Community post

Thank you Lorna, and everyone who replied. This is exactly why I posted. Reading these has made me feel much less ridiculous, and I am adding a few notes before my next appointment.

Jun 3 · Posted

Hi all. Long one, sorry. I've been thinking about this for a while and I want to write it down properly. I'm 54 and still in perimenopause, which I know surprises people but here we are. My cycles have been erratic for about four years now. The hot flushes and night sweats I've more or less made peace with, or at least I've accepted that they're part of my life for the moment. What I'm really struggling with at the minute is joint pain, and I feel like I keep going round in circles with it. It started in my hips, which I put down to exercise at first because I do Pilates twice a week and I thought maybe I'd overdone something. Then it moved to my hands, particularly the knuckles, worst in the morning. Then my knees started joining in. I've had mornings where I've got out of bed and had to actually stand still for a minute before I could walk properly, which is not something I was prepared for at 54. I've been to my GP twice about it. First time, blood tests to rule out rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid issues. All came back normal. Second time, I specifically mentioned I'd read about the link between falling oestrogen and joint inflammation and I wanted to talk about it in the context of my perimenopause. She was not dismissive exactly, but she wasn't particularly engaged either. She said it was "possible" and that HRT "might help" but she seemed more comfortable talking about anti-inflammatories and referring me to physio. The physio was actually helpful for the hips specifically. But I still feel like the underlying question, whether this is hormonal, whether treating the hormonal side might help the joint side, hasn't really been answered. I've been doing a lot of reading and I know there's research on oestrogen receptors in joint tissue. I'm not trying to self-diagnose. I just want to have a more informed conversation. So I suppose I'm asking a few things: Has anyone had a GP who actually engaged with this connection properly? Not just ruled out the scary stuff and moved on, but actually talked about it as a menopause symptom? For those of you on HRT, did you notice any change in joint symptoms? I'm genuinely curious about people's experiences, not looking for anyone to tell me what to do, just interested in what's happened for other people. And did anyone find it useful to bring anything specific to their appointment, a symptom diary, printed information, anything like that? I want my next appointment to feel less like I'm being gently managed and more like an actual conversation. I care a lot about staying active. Pilates matters to me. Sleep matters to me. Feeling like I can move through the day without planning around pain matters to me. I don't think that's too much to ask for but at the moment I'm not sure the system knows quite what to do with me. Any experiences or thoughts really welcome. x